Ikea Buys Soho Real Estate from Jeff Sutton for $213M

An Ikea is coming to Lower Manhattan.

An entity connected to the Scandinavian furniture giant has purchased 529 Broadway in Soho for $213 million, according to property records. The seller was a joint group that included Thor Equities and Wharton Properties, billionaire Jeff Sutton’s firm. Eastdil Secured advised the seller.

Ingka Group, which owns the majority of Ikea stores worldwide, confirmed plans to bring a new retail location to the property. An Ikea store will occupy the first and second floors, totaling about 25,000 square feet.

The building is a 58,000-square-foot, six-story commercial building at the corner of Broadway and Spring Street, according to BKSK, the building’s architect. The space is currently occupied by Nike.

The upper floors will be converted to office space and operated by Ingka, the company said.

Sutton’s firm bought the building for $146.9 million in 2013, according to property records. He did not immediately return a request for comment.

The property is significantly smaller than Ikea’s already-operating stores. Its Red Hook location, built in 2007, is more than 336,000 square feet. That location is zoned for big-box retail, while the Broadway location is zoned for more traditional retail, according to city property records.

But it also wouldn’t be Ikea’s first attempt to fit into a tight space.

In 2019, the company opened a “Planning Studio” at 999 Third Avenue, in a 17,000-square-foot space, Curbed reported. But that only lasted for three years. A 115,000-square-foot store in Rego Park, Queens, was similarly short-lived.

Ingka Group last year unveiled an Ikea “customer meeting point” that would span 80,000 square feet across two cellar levels of 570 Fifth Avenue, between West 46th and 47th Streets. But the tower, developed by Extell Development Company, is not slated to open until 2026.

The company’s main North American office is in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. The company, though founded in Sweden, now has its global headquarters in the Netherlands.

Ikea is holding a “housewarming” party elsewhere in Lower Manhattan Tuesday evening, promising interactive experiences and meatballs.